Odanada

Nice rework and a cool approach. Well recorded, good vocals. Well done.

Hi John OK. You talked me into it. Here is one from the pile. If I don't disgrace myself with this one, I'll work on posting some more. Thanks for the words of encouragement Dan

Hey John While I agree with all the points you make and applaud the gentle way you present them, I'll tell you about how it relates to me. I enjoy writing songs very much and am very proud of some of what I write. I enjoy a little home style jamming and would be confident in a (small) kitchen guitar pull, but that's about it. I haven't really played with anyone in ages - musically, I tend to live in my head quite a bit. I am sensitive and flawed and the thought of stage performing or putting myself out there in a self promotional way is intimidating. I am not great (read terrible) at recording and this makes my songs sound raw and unpolished even though I probably put a great deal of effort into their composition. If the recipe to getting your work heard involves having a polished recording and self promotion, I'm simply missing some important ingredients and not willing/able to go shopping for them. Put those last 2 paragraphs together and they scream "lack of confidence" and "lack of drive" - and I'll reply "that sounds fair enough." But now I've climbed out of my musical fetal position and come exploring here at Songstuff. There are some songs (and artists) here that are really good - and a few that are amazing It's an interesting and supportive place and I'm working towards posting something. But my recordings are not great (and not likely to get much better) and my playing is not the best. So I spin in little circles looking to kick start the updraft that will turn into the funnel cloud needed for me to actually post a song. Unfortunately, I seem to be finding more drafts than funnel clouds I guess we all come here for the same reason, but some of us are just unreasonable.

Hello Samin and welcome I'm guessing it's a pretty safe bet that everyone here likes music too!

There's just 12 notes rhythm and feel Borrow carefully, never steal

I will offer up a couple of Canadians.... First up is Stephen Fearing, a very good guitar player, singer and an interesting songwriter.. quite the talent Next up is an excellent guitar player who manages in this video to present a very depressing topic in a very cool song Hope you like them

Sometimes it's fun to pick an old timey artist and write a (sometimes deliberately bad) song for them for any era/time period you choose. For example a 60s Tammy Wynette weeper. A corny 50s love song, a hippie flower power anthem etc. Using the vernacular or themes of that time period gives the song a bit of a research vibe that takes you away from having to create something "fresh" for you. The results are usually throwaway and more funny than actually good, but it can shake things up and get the juices flowing again. It's best to pick something outside your comfort zone lest you steer back into your usual ruts and stall out. I once wrote (though it needs major polishing) an overblown, old timey, dramatic country weeper called "you failed me again" that became an in-joke around the house for a bit. If my wife did something inconsequential (left a cupboard door open) I'd dramatically wail "you failed me again!" and we'd all laugh. The kids even picked up on it and it was a hoot before it was quickly forgotten (maybe it's a Canadian humour thing?) The point is that it was a harmless , fun exercise in craft - and who knows knows what you'll find when you start turning over rocks?

Hello Cruz. You seem to have something in mind, but it's hard to discern from the rough sketch you've provided. Maybe you need to flesh out your idea a bit more before presenting it? I can see this is your first post and I'm hoping you are not too discouraged by the feedback. I too am looking to test drive some ideas here, but have decided to go slow until I get the lay of the land - after all, we have our whole lives to figure this out, right?

Hi Andy C. Finding your own voice is more or less finding a way to harness the energy you feel when you create something. You may have a style in mind, a band in mind - it doesn't really matter as long as you don't plagiarize. Allow your muse to travel where it wants and learn to keep out of the way so that it can flow. Let riffs and ideas sit for a bit and see if they stick in your head - if they do, then you have something to work with. It kills momentum when you start worrying what genre/style/influence it is before you even give birth to it. Listen to stuff outside of your normal taste zone and appreciate that like good people, good music comes in every colour shape and size; it's all good. IMHO, songwriting is a craft, but it should also be a lot of fun.

In my opinion, some of how people react is societal. When I was a kid, there were no video games. TV came over an antenna, with few channels and no remote control. We were bored quite a bit, but this led to imaginative innovation as we would take whatever was on hand and create our own entertainment with it. Although it's become a cliche, we actually would take an empty cardboard appliance box and play with the thing for days on end, until it fell apart and got thrown out. The nature of "boredom" has changed. People now have a phone that links them to literally millions of options. They come under the spell of social media and their attention span gets whittled away by an endless stream of clickbait and insidious video games. Trends and likes are fed into an algorithm whose sole purpose is to shape, funnel and herd opinion and ultimately, where and how we spend our dollars. It has infiltrated every aspect of our lives and the newer generations have it embedded in their DNA. I realize this view is a broad brush generalization, but my point is that it has shortened attention spans. Sometimes when they show the crowds at sporting events, I am bewildered at how many people are gazing into their phones. Does the game not provide enough stimulation? Are there concerns so pressing that people need to stay "connected", even at a game? Has the new electronic world enslaved our attention spans? Hmmm..... I sound like a grumpy old man and maybe I am - Get off my lawn! It's hard to engage people because giving you attention means ignoring all the (addictive) things that have flooded the well and washed away the boredom that made the empty appliance box a fort, a tank track, a tunnel etc. There are fewer and fewer of us willing to listen to what a singer/songwriter is try to put across in a live setting because the competition for our attention has grown beyond any reasonable comprehension and the goal posts of what constitutes common courtesy are constantly moving. Let's face it. Clips of fools making themselves sick with spoonfuls of cinnamon go viral while songs that may or may not be great languish in the darkness of an unopened folder. The world is changing my friend, like it always has and always will. This rant is just an observation and an opinion. If I could distill it into a song, I would and it would most certainly join the others in my unopened folder.

How about the vague "I'm not sure what I want." I'm old, with a debilitating sense of stage fright. I can find joy playing at small gatherings of friends and neighbours, but the thought of open stage nights etc. is more inclined to make me stay at home than it is to spur me on. I write songs and have for a long time. Some are better than others. Some are funny, some are sad. The one people seem to like the best is in reasonably poor taste, (though it was written with tongue firmly in cheek). I write them to let them out and because it feels good to create something I actually like. I get a rush from the act of creation and also enjoy the fine tuning of lyrics, melody and hooks. My skills are somewhat limited, but I'm content with my abilities. Ultimately, I need to learn to self record better as I want to leave a copy of my songs (my musical diary, if you will) for my kids to ponder/ignore after I'm gone. Right now I am using Garage Band, but my production abilities are poor and the results suffer because of it. I am just not a knob twirler. I suppose what I want is some sort of validation that my songs have some merit. Since it's not likely I will travel the traditional route of playing my songs in front of an audience, I'm not getting the feedback that let's me know if they're actually any good. I mean, I think they're good, but that and a buck will get me a cup of coffee. Does that make any sense?

I think I write songs because it lets stuff out and lets stuff in. As a kid, I liked things that were clever. I guess I thought "clever" meant "smarter" and smarter seemed like more rarified air. Turns of phrase; hooks. The joyful dance that turns thoughts into ideas.... into something... clever. Everybody needs a hobby. When I pluck out a song that pleases me and seems clever, it just feels very amusing. If it manages to intersect with something meaningful and/or real, it's even more amusing. It's developed a bit of craftsmanship over time, and I like that too. I love my hopeless little ditties, but I don't generally share them. Is that weird?

I find songwriting to be incredibly fulfilling. I'm confident and shy at the same time. I'm not sure why I'm here, but I'm looking forward to to finding the breadcrumbs that lead to the path.